Getting the Girl for Dummies
by live2rite
Summary: Finn has realised the mistakes he has made and is looking for another chance, Rachel is tired of playing the second choice. Will Finn be abe to convince Rachel to give him one more try? Finchel
1. Chapter 1

A.N. Hey guys first my first multi chapter Finchel story :) hope you like it!

From Rite Rose Publishing

Getting the Girl for Dummies

Chapter One

Rachel knew she had a problem. She knew it from the first time she talked to Finn about Quinn in the line for snacks at Vocal Adrenalin's show. She knew when they had first sung together, she had admired his voice and thought he was cute but then they talked and she tried to ignore him, especially after hearing about Quinn and him leaving Glee. But then he came back, he came back and sang that song with them, with her and she had been hooked. She knew she had scared him with her intensity when they had sang 'You're The One That I Want' but she had hoped that by singing 'Don't Stop Believin' with her and becoming more involved with Glee that he would really see her and for a while it seemed he had. Then he was a jerk, twice! She sighed as she walked into the first Glee rehearsal after singing 'My Life Would Suck without You' for Mr. Schuester to see him sitting alone at the drums, distractedly hitting a slow beat. She hesitated for a moment before walking towards him.

"Hi Finn," she smiled. He jumped and stopped the beat as he turned to look up at her. He gave her a small smile before putting down the sticks and walking over to the chairs and waving her over. He took her books from his arms as she reached him and put them next to his on the floor.

"Hey Rachel," he answered, as she sat next to him.

"You're early," she commented as she tried to figure out what had made him take her books from her like that.

"I skipped gym," he shrugged, "I don't think I'm ready to deal with Puck yet."

Rachel let this sink in. She knew from Brittany that Finn and his Mom had let Quinn stay at their house but he didn't want to even go to the same gym class as Puck? That seemed like a bit of a double standard to her. She cleared her throat and hesitated slightly before she said, "... And Quinn?"

Finn shot her a quick glance and he shrugged again before saying, "Mom's right, she has nowhere else to go right now." There was another pause whilst they both took in the rest of the room. "I don't hate either of them," Finn suddenly blurted out, like he had wanted to say this all along and had finally found the courage. "I'm so angry that I want to hit things all the time but we weren't right for each other and I knew that when we ... well for a long time but Puck was my best friend, do you think it's right that I'm more angry at him than her?" he asked turning to face her. Rachel was speechless for a moment so Finn took this opportunity to elaborate. "I mean, don't get me wrong the fact that she lied to me about the baby and basically had me worrying my ass off for the last few months ..." he trailed off as he looked at her.

"It's ok to be angry Finn," Rachel told him before placing her hand on his. He looked down at her hand and slowly turned his hand over so he was holding it gently.

"Rach, would you want to go out with me?" he asked, looking her right in the eyes. Rachel was stunned; this was really coming from nowhere.

"Finn ... I ...?" Rachel started to answer but Finn gently interrupted again.

"I know I've been a jerk to you, I know it and I'm so sorry. I can't believe some of the things I did to you and I can't actually believe that you're still talking to me let alone still my friend but I really like you and have for a while ..." Finn was babbling and Rachel needed him to stop. He was saying all the things she had wanted him to say for a long time, but she couldn't handle him saying them now and then she would become the official rebound girl. She was the star not the understudy.

"Finn, I can't do this, we're friends and you're a fantastic singer but I will not be the rebound to Quinn Fabray or ..." she paused slightly before continuing, "Or some kind of payback against Puck."

"What?!" Finn exclaimed, tightening his grip on her hand slightly, "No Rachel, that's not ... no ... please don't think that!" he begged. Rachel dropped her gaze and pulled her hand away from his.

"I'll always be your friend Finn, but right now I think you should focus on trying to gain some control over your anger towards Quinn and Puck. Also Glee should have our full attention, after all we did do well at Sectionals but Regional's is another matter entirely." She finished her sentence just as the door opened and the rest of Glee started to file in, all talking excitedly. Mr. Schuester followed shortly after with Miss Pillsbury. Finn tore his gaze from Rachel's face as everyone settled down, even more confused than he was before. Did she really think that? He had to show her he was serious about her in some way. There were many guys at this school that could charm women easily; Finn Hudson was not one of those guys. Most girls found his smile charming or cute but he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in any box, let alone romance. Further contemplation was interrupted by Mr. Schuester clearing his throat. He looked at the people before him and smiled as he made an announcement.

"OK guys, I know we've just finished with sectionals but we need to start deciding on which songs to sing at regional's," he told them all, "Now the time limit is a twenty minute slot and we have to have a solo but I also want us a have a duet as well as two full choir songs." At this revelation, Mercedes, Rachel, Kurt and surprisingly Quinn, all sat up a little straighter, all hoping they got the solo. "Now, I haven't decided on the solo yet and I'm working on the two other numbers but I have our duet and I think you guys will love this," he smiled and paused before holding up two sets of sheets and handing them to Rachel and Finn. "You two are going to sing 'I've had the time of my Life'" he announced. Finn grinned at this; he knew that having extra time to practice this with Rachel would give him more time to show her how serious he was. Rachel, on the other hand, was not quite so happy. She usually loved to sing with Finn but she could see the look on his face and knew exactly what he was planning, but she was also loathe to give away the duet as it really was a great song and they would be able to sing it well together. It was a popular song that she knew would be relatable, after all who hadn't seen Dirty Dancing. She gave Mr. Schue a weak smile before taking her sheets. Mr. Schuester's smile faded a little at Rachel's lack of enthusiasm. "Are you ok Rachel?" he asked, "If you don't like the song I can give it to someone else but I think you and Finn ..."

"No, that's a great song Mr. Schuester, thanks." Rachel busied herself looking through the rest of the papers as everyone else, except Finn, looked confused. Finn was a little disheartened that she wasn't happy about singing with him again but shook this off because she had accepted the duet. Mr. Schuester turned to the rest of the group and started talking over possible choices for the numbers for the whole choir. After Glee ended Rachel quickly grabbed her books and her bag and practically fled the room before Finn could even call after her. He stood in confusion as he stared at the empty doorway.

"What did you do to little miss drama queen?" Mercedes asked as she, Artie, Tina and Kurt suddenly appeared next to him and pulled him from his thoughts.

"Huh?" He asked, distractedly. Mercedes and Kurt rolled their eyes at him and it dawned on him what they were asking. "Oh, she's mad at me because I asked her out," he told them. Tina, Mercedes and Kurt all looked shocked but Artie just looked confused.

"Isn't that what she wanted?" Artie asked. Kurt tutted at them both.

"Of course she wants Finn," he told them as if they were stupid, "but what she doesn't want is to date a guy as the rebound!" he stated as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"She's not a rebound!" Finn told him hotly.

"Look at it from her point of view Finn," Kurt advised, "You've been dating Quinn Fabray, who you've just found out lied to you for months and cheated on you with your best friend who she also used to date, albeit briefly. You've known she's had a crush on you like forever and have pulled away every time you've ever shown any interest in her. You've also used her to get ahead and have ignored her when it was convenient for you. Boy I'm surprised she hasn't told you to go to hell way before now!" he sighed and rolled his eyes again. "She is in love with you ... but is convinced by now it's not mutual; you'll have to put in some real work if you want her to believe you now."

Finn took this in and turned to face them all before he spoke. "I'll do whatever it takes." He told them firmly before picking up his bag and exiting the room.

Kurt turned to face Mercedes and Tina. "Be prepared for drama ladies," he grinned as they all followed Finn out of the door.

"Why is there going to be drama?" Artie asked, still confused which caused the girls and Kurt to moan.

TBC

A.N. Hey guys I hope you like this so far :) please review, thanks Nicki


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. So here's the next chapter ... I have written the whole story so I should be updating every day, but enough with that and onto the story :)

Chapter Two

The next day, Rachel made her way to the choir room. She had to rehearse the duet with Finn today and honestly she was dreading it and looking forward to it in equal measure but she squashed both the feelings. She was Finn's friend. She couldn't just not see him anymore, plus they were on Glee together. No, she just had to keep a professional distance between them whilst they rehearsed, that was all. She walked in the choir room to find it empty so she went to the piano and started playing some scales and warming up her voice. She had been at it for a few minutes when she heard Finn enter the room. She was finishing the scale when she realised that he had stopped behind her and then ... she could smell it. Lilies! She jumped off the piano stool in mid note and hurried away from Finn. He was holding a fresh bunch of lilies and a box of chocolates. He looked confused and took a step towards her.

"Rach I know I've been a jerk but I feel like I know you and I really want ..." Finn started but stopped as she suddenly sneezed. "Are you ok?" he asked, concerned as she sneezed again.

"I have allergies Finn!" she all but yelled at him, "Lilies really set me off and when have you ever seen me eat chocolate except for the odd bit?" she hurried over to her bag and slung it over her shoulder, "You think you know me?" she sighed and opened her mouth to say something else but sneezed again. She looked sadly at Finn, shook her head and left the room, feeling awful that she had yelled but convinced she had done the right thing. She was that focused on not crying that she didn't notice that she had run by Kurt. He walked into the room that Rachel had just left to see Finn stood gloomily by the piano, a bunch of lilies in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other. They stood in silence for a few minutes before Kurt spoke up.

"So," he began, "How did that go?" he asked conversationally.

"I'm stupid," Finn muttered, "I didn't think about what Rachel likes I just went straight for the damn usual that most chicks like. This is Rachel that I'm trying to win over, why the hell did I think that she would like what most chicks like? She's right, I've never seen her eat chocolate unless you count the chocolate chips that are in those health bars she has and she did tell me she has a mild hay fever that time she walked past the football field the day it had been mown and she sneezed. I knew BOTH those things" he finished furious with himself. He slammed the flowers into the bin and was about to throw the chocolates in after them when Kurt stopped him.

"Rachel may not eat chocolate but I do, don't waste them," he scolded before rescuing the chocolates from their fate. Finn slumped onto the piano stool and stared at his feet. "So what have we learned from this?" Kurt asked. Finn looked up confused.

"That I'm even more of a jerk than I thought?" he mumbled.

"No," Kurt rolled his eyes, "That you need to think about which girl you're trying to impress BEFORE you decide on the make up gift." He smiled at Finn who gave a small smile back.

"So what do I get Rachel?" he asked, looking hopefully at Kurt.

"Oh no lover boy!" he shook his head, "You're on your own." He smirked and turned to leave before pausing in the doorway, he didn't really want Finn to date Rachel, after all the girl had no fashion sense but she did make him happy. He sighed and decided to throw the guy a bone. "Roses are good if you suffer from hay fever, or certain kinds of daisies, ask the florist next time, don't just leave as soon as you can so no one will see you buying flowers." Kurt left, not needing to turn around to know that Finn was turning red because that is exactly what he had done. Finn looked around the empty room, knowing that there was no need for him to stay here now as Rachel wouldn't be back. He looked at the crumpled flowers and knew he stood get rid of them just in case she did come back later for something. He didn't want whatever it was that made hay fever people sneeze to still be in the air. When he got home that night, he went to ask his Mom about roses. He could swear he could remember hearing that different coloured roses meant different coloured things and he knew that Rachel would know that kind of thing so he definitely didn't want to give her roses that said he hated her or something. His Mom looked shocked he was asking but recovered herself quickly enough to tell him all she knew. That night a plan started to form in his mind. He needed to do exactly what Rachel wanted and just be her friend. He would do this and show her he liked her for who she was and not as a rebound, then he would start with the roses. Giving her a different rose every couple of days with a different meaning. He rolled over and smiled, he thought it would make her happy but it needed something else, he wasn't sure what exactly but he had a few weeks to figure it out. Phase one of Operation Rose was friendship and he could NOT mess this bit up.

The next Glee practice was tense for both Rachel and Finn. He was trying to be the best friend he could whilst not going too far and it was more of a strain than he thought it would be but he kept going and even managed to make her smile a few times. Quinn was really happy that rehearsal as the night before her Mom had come to see her and had asked her to come home. She was happily telling this to Rachel as they waited for Mr. Schuester to arrive.

"I couldn't believe it Rachel, I mean she just appeared at the Hudson's and asked to speak to me. Mrs. Hudson was reluctant to leave me alone with her, you could tell but Mom just kept apologising and she was crying about what had happened. She doesn't care if I give the baby up for adoption or keep it and she's told me she wants to support me and the baby if I decide to keep it." Quinn couldn't help the large smile stretching across her face.

"That's fantastic Quinn," Rachel smiled, "did she tell you what your Dad's reaction to you moving back home was?" she asked a little worried.

"Mom told me not to worry about him; apparently they've had a 'talk'." Quinn used sarcastic air quotes around the word talk and sighed, "He hasn't actually talked to me yet but I don't mind so much anymore. Do I want him to accept this and help me? Of course I do but he's determined to be one of those fathers who ... well, yes he's not talked to me yet."

"I'm sorry." Rachel told her sincerely.

"Don't be, it's not your fault ... I've decided to give up the baby up for adoption." Quinn told her. Finn looked around at the girls at this before quickly turning his head to stare at the door again. Rachel moved to put her hand on Quinn's shoulder.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" She asked Quinn quietly.

"Yes, it's for the best, for the baby and for me." Quinn smiled sadly.

"How's ... well ... how's Puck taking it?" Rachel asked.

"He's taking it like Puck." Quinn sighed, "He's told me he doesn't care what I do it's my decision but if I keep it he'll help but I know him better. He's crushed but doesn't want to tell me."

"Yeah that sounds like Puck." Rachel agreed, "How are things between you since ..." she paused and threw a glance towards Finn before lowering her voice slightly but not enough since Finn could still hear every word. "Since everyone found out?" At this, Quinn also shot a glance at Finn too before smiling sadly at Rachel

"Puck wants a relationship, he wants to be serious but I honestly don't think he's capable of that, he still sexts every hot girl who shows any interest in that with him," she sighed and continued, "I'm not sure he'll ever be ready to give me that sort of relationship and I just don't want another catastrophe, especially since I caused the last one."

Before Rachel could reply to this, Mr. Schue and Puck came walking into the room in deep conversation. It seemed that Puck also wanted the chance to do the solo at Regional's.

"I'm sorry Noah, but I still haven't decided on the solo yet, the minute I do you guys will be the first to know, I promise." Puck stormed his way to his seat in the back and sat down moodily. Mr. Schuester spent most of this Glee practice brain storming full choir songs with the rest of Glee. He told them he really wanted their input into what songs they wanted to sing especially since practically every song they had chosen in the past during Glee not to mention their show stopping performances at Sectionals told him they knew more than he had given them credit for in the past, especially Finn who had chosen both 'Don't Stop Believin' and 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'.

After Glee Finn stopped Rachel before she could make another quick escape. Kurt hushed the rest of the Glee member's so he could listen to their conversation and once they all realised what he was doing they all listened in too, (by this time Kurt had filled them all in on Finn's disastrous attempt at making things up to Rachel the day before). Rachel faced Finn, uncomfortably aware of everyone's attention on her and Finn.

"Hey Rach, do you want to practice the duet a bit before you head home, I promise we'll just practice and I won't try to make you sneeze during every line," he promised giving her the little half smile that she usually couldn't resist. She took a deep breath and forced herself not to look him in the eyes, because then she knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself from practising like he wanted.

"I'm sorry Finn, but my Dad's need me home tonight, we've got a family thing," she turned to smile at the rest of the Glee, knowing that the best she could do right now was her forced paparazzi smile, "I'll see you guys tomorrow." 

Before Finn could say anything else she had practically ran from the room. He sighed heavily; he had known it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Dude, you should just give her a little space ... you seriously messed up yesterday." Puck told him. He had made his way to stand next to him but still a good arm swing away. Finn turned to face him angrily but for the first time since he had found out the truth he didn't feel like punching his fist into the guy's face.

"What do you care Puckerman?" he asked, trying to sneer but it make out more resigned. Puck shrugged before replying.

"You guys care about each other, I've already screwed around with your friendship and her feelings once ... I'm not about to do it again." He walked from the room before Finn could say anything else. Finn stared after him and then turned to the rest of the Glee members.

"Was that an actual apology?" he asked, stunned. He knew Puck really well, since middle school and he had never heard Puck actually apologise and mean it before. That had sounded so much more like an apology than the lame "We cool dude?" he had thrown him at Sectionals. Quinn gave him a small smile.

"He's really trying to change Finn." She told him, hopefully. Finn paused before turning to her and asking her a question that made her head spin.

"So why won't you give him the benefit of the doubt?" He asked before picking up his bag and leaving the room too.

TBC

A.N. words of wisdom from Finn ;) anyways please review, thanks Nicki


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Ok so here's chapter three of Finn trying to get Rach to forgive him :) enjoy!

Chapter Three

The next week was interesting for both Finn and Rachel. They started to practice the duet but Rachel didn't push to get to the level of performance they had when they had first sung 'Don't Stop Believin' and Finn didn't try to ask her to get to that level either. They mainly stood, one on either side of the piano and sang, Rachel into her lyric sheets despite the fact that they both knew she knew the words by heart and Finn would stare at the top of her head and she did this. Finn came into rehearsal a week after the lilies incident to find Rachel hastily trying to dry her eyes.

"Rach, what's wrong?" he asked in alarm.

"Nothing," she answered quickly, rubbing her eyes one more and reaching for her lyrics sheet, "So where were we up to?" she asked, trying to change the topic.

"Oh no you don't, what happened?" Finn asked, putting his hand on her shoulder causing her to look him in the eyes for the first time in a while. The minute she did, she started crying again and Finn awkwardly pulled her into a hug. He wasn't great with crying girls, but a crying Rachel broke his heart and he had to do something to help her, to comfort her and hugging did that right? The minute he started to pull her into his arms she practically launched herself the rest of the way and threw her arms around his waist, holding tightly. Sobs racked her body as Finn tried to sooth her by rubbing his hand up and down her back in soothing circles and told her over and over it was ok. Finally she stopped crying and Finn finally asked her what was wrong again. This time there was a pause before she answered.

"You won't like it." She told him.

"I don't care," Finn replied hotly, "If there's something wrong with you, I want to know! I might be able to help or at the very least by telling your ... friend," here he almost choked on the word but knew he needed to help Rachel right now, "Then maybe you'll feel better."

There was another pause, this time a little longer before Rachel finally spoke again, "Someone has graffitied my locker, it says 'Hudson's Manwhore'" she murmured against his chest. Finn's blood ran cold. Even when he was trying to help her he managed to complicate her life.

"I'm sorry Rach." He muttered, "I'll find out who did that and makes sure it never happens again."

"But it will, don't you see that?" Rachel told him, finally breaking their embrace and moving a step away leaving Finn feeling cold. "As long as you're my friend then people are going to use me to get to you and I can't have that happen not after everything that has happened with you and Quinn and Puck!"

"Whoa Rach, calm down," he paused a moment, absorbing this, she didn't care that this was on her locker; she was upset because she thought HE would care. He smiled despite himself. "Rachel, I really like you, as a friend ... hopefully one day as more when you realise I'm not going anywhere and I don't care what people write on my locker or your locker about us, the only thing I'm worried about is how this upsets you." Rachel looked wearily at him and then he realised exactly what was bothering her. She was protecting herself. Kurt's words about how he had to work really hard to show her he was serious now made even more sense to him. She was afraid he was going to run away from her again to protect his popularity. The popularity he didn't give a damn about anymore. He reached for her hand and she allowed him to take it. "I'm not going anywhere Rach."

Rachel stared at him as he said this and she couldn't help but think that he looked and sounded serious, but then he had looked and sounded serious that day in the bowling alley. No ... if she was completely honest with herself then she could see his shifty attitude when he had been trying to talk to her about Glee and the musical. When they had been talking normally, about bowling and everyday stuff, they had just talked like they hadn't done before and it was then that she realised she had fallen for the boy and not just the voice. But right now, he was telling her he was staying despite the fact he was probably going to get a slushie facial everyday just for being seen with her. She smiled softly and cleared her throat.

"Come on, we only have half an hour to practice before the rest of Glee arrives for group practice." That practice Rachel actually looked him in the eyes as they performed and he finally felt that phase one was almost complete. After Glee practice that day he waited for everyone to leave except for Mr. Schuester by pretending he was having a hard time stuffing his books in his bag. When everyone had finally left he slipped the book into his cooperative bag and turned to face Mr. Schuester.

"Mr. Schue, I need some help." He said.

"Oh?" Mr. Schuester asked.

"Rachel's locker has been ... well vandalised and I need to get rid of the stuff on it before she gets in tomorrow, can you help me get hold of the cleaning stuff?" he asked.

"Of course," Mr. Schuester frowned, "I'll help you get rid of the stuff too, it can take quite a while."

When they reached Rachel's locker, Mr. Schuester's jaw dropped slightly at the words that had been sprayed across Rachel's locker. He cleared his throat and took the required picture of the vandalism for the school records and they both stood in silence for a few seconds, staring at the cruel words.

"I don't know how she does it." Finn whispered. Mr. Schuester tore his gaze from the locker in front of them to look intently at Finn instead who turned to look back at him after he sensed this. "I mean, everyday someone insults her or slushies her or tries to break her in some way, but then she just comes right back into school the next day and still has this ... determination that she's gonna be the star and still smiles at everyone, even the ones who do all this to her." He waved airily towards the graffiti and sighed. "It isn't fair."

"No it's not." Mr. Schuester agreed, "But Rachel is an amazing person and she has great friends in the kids at Glee now, she'll pull through this."

"Mr. Schue ..." Finn hesitated but continued in a rush at the encouraging smile Mr. Schuester sent him. "Why did you give that West Side Story solo to Tina instead of Rachel?" he asked.

Mr. Schuester frowned slightly at this, not out of anger at the question but because he had asked himself that very question a lot since he had done it. "Well ..." he started, "In retrospect I know I should have chosen a different song. I wanted to give all you kids the opportunity to sing solo's and I stand by the decision it was Tina's turn but I should have chosen a different song and given the Maria solo to Rachel later on in the year but I am happy with the way everything ended up, she's much less focused on also being the soloist now and I think you guys all work harder and better because of it."

There was a pause as Finn let these words sink in.

"Right," he nodded, more to himself as another piece of the Rachel puzzle slid into place. "So do we just scrub?" he asked, gesturing to the graffiti on Rachel's locker. Mr. Schuester laughed and they started work on Rachel's locker. A few hours later, Finn walked through his front door and into the front room where his Mom was sat watching reruns of the Gilmore Girls.

"Hey Mom, can I ask you something?" he said.

"Sure sweetie, what's up?" she asked, as she muted the TV whilst Lorelai was in mid rant.

Finn paused not quite knowing how to put this because he knew how much his Mom still loved his Dad. "What ... what was the most ... romantic thing that ... that my Dad did for you?" he asked. She looked surprised for a second but managed to change that to mild interest pretty quickly. Finn knew why this was. He never asked about his Dad since he was about seven. Every time he had asked, his Mom had started to tell him and then steadily started crying. He didn't like anyone crying especially his Mom so he had stopped asking stuff. This was something he really needed to know.

"It was our second anniversary and I came home from work and he had cooked me my favourite meal, we watched my favourite film and then stayed up all night talking," she smiled at the memory.

Finn frowned, "And that's ... romantic?" he asked.

"Yes, it showed me that he loved me and wanted to get to know me, spend time with me. All any girl ever wants is the guy she loves to take interest in her, show her she's special."

Finn thought about this for a few minutes, his Mom letting him take this time as she carried on watching Gilmore Girls.

"Thanks Mom, that's given me some great ideas!" he suddenly stood up and gave her a quick hug before walking determined out of the room. He knew her favourite colour, that one was easy. He knew her favourite singer and her favourite musical. He knew she loved all kinds of music, he knew she wanted to be a Broadway star and he knew she made great cookies. He knew lots of little things about her but he wanted to know more, he wanted to know everything ... and wasn't that what his Mom was saying was the most important thing? He made his way to the local florist and, a little apprehensively, he walked inside. He walked over to the stand where all the different coloured roses were and frowned at all the different colours he saw. He knew that they came in different colours but was it necessary to have the same flower in so many? As he stared at them trying to decide which to go with, a friendly looking woman came over to him and smiled.

"Hi, can I help you with something?" she asked, her English accent coming through in the few words she had spoken.

"Yeah, I'm trying to do something special for this girl and I know Roses have special meanings and stuff ... can you help me with that?" he asked, still looking at the flowers with a look of confusion. The florist smiled at him.

"I can," she told him, "What is it you're wanting to say exactly?" she asked. Finn turned to her and smiled.

"Well ..." he began.

TBC

A.N. Next chapter is the final chapter ... also the longest one yet lol :) so please review this one, thanks guys, Nicki


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. As promised here is the final chapter ... now just to warn you all, when I first planned this story I had no intention of it being so ... cheesy (really cheesy like the four cheese pizza kind) but this is how it came out lol.

Chapter Four

The next day was Friday and Finn walked into the school feeling that things were finally starting to fall into place. He had talked with the florist, who she insisted that he called Luce, for a good half an hour last night as they had figured out the perfect plan for him. She had even agreed to do some personal deliveries and make sure the flowers arrived exactly where they were supposed to at exactly the right time. He smiled as he walked by her locker and noticed it hadn't been graffitied and continued on to his. Waiting for him was Kurt.

"Hey Kurt!" he greeted cheerfully as he pulled his locker open, "What's up man?" he asked.

"Good morning Finn, I was just checking to see how your plan was going," he said, shifting his bag up on his shoulder a little.

"Everything's going great Kurt," he grinned. Kurt raised his eyebrow slightly at this before he replied.

"Have you been taking those vitamins again Finn?" he asked. Finn just laughed and slapped Kurt on the shoulder as he walked by. He spent the rest of the day walking around in a happy bubble, ignoring the usual slurs from the hockey team and certain members of the football team. He ate lunch with the rest of Glee, as was becoming his habit. He watched Rachel as she ate her lunch and reached for her apple only to have her arm accidentally knocked by Kurt's as he was reaching for his drink. Her apple bounced off the table and rolled right over to the hockey guys who immediately picked it up and threw it as hard as they could at the nearby wall causing all of Glee to be flecked with bits of apple as it exploded on impact. As everyone muttered about 'those hockey jerks' and tried to wipe the bits of sticky apple from their hair or clothing, Finn reached for his own apple and offered it to Rachel.

"Here Rach, have mine?" he offered. Everyone on the table seemed to stop at this comment and he was uncomfortably aware that Mercedes was nudging Kurt in his side.

Rachel blinked and hesitated, "Are you sure you don't want it?" she asked softly.

"Nah," he shrugged and smiled. She reached out and took the apple from him, her fingers gently brushing his.

"Thank you Finn." She blushed as she pulled away. Finn's grin widened, she was so pretty when she blushed. As Rachel bit into the apple she glanced back at Finn who was smiling widely at his food tray. Rachel knew she was starting to cave in response to Finn's relentless kindness and seeming interest in her. She dropped her gaze back to her own tray as she munched on the apple and as she did she was happy to see, out of the corner of her eye, that the rest of Glee has returned to their own lunches and conversations but she could hear Kurt excitedly whispering to Mercedes and was sure she had heard her name at some point.

Glee practice went without a hitch. It seemed that everyone on the team was finally happy with where they were on the team and this showed in their performance.

That weekend was the longest one in history for both Finn and Rachel. Finn because he knew that on Monday the final part of his plan would start and Rachel because she spent the whole weekend debating with herself over whether she should call Finn. Either way Monday arrived and as Rachel walked into school and towards her locker, she saw a crowd around her locker and her heart sank. Someone had graffitied it again. She squared her shoulders and idlely wondered what they had written this time and she made her way through the crowd.

"Excuse me," she said as she side stepped one student after another before she stepped in front of her locker, but there was no graffiti on her locker. Kurt was stood in front of her locker and was heatedly talking to one of the hockey players.

"... No! It's Rachel's. I'm not letting you take it!" he snapped, and then his face broke into a smile as he saw Rachel emerge from the crowd. "Rachel!" he exclaimed as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer, stepping out of the way of her locker. Her breath caught in her throat. Tied to her locker by a pink ribbon was a beautiful yellow rose. She reached out and untied it, her hands shaking. "This was attached to it but I had to take it before this idiot took it," he told her as he handed her a small slip of card and rolled his eyes at the backs of the retreating hockey players. Obviously now that Rachel knew about the rose, there was no point in hanging around. She shakily opened the card and printed inside were the words, 'Your friendship means the world to me ...' she read the words over and over trying to imprint them in her memory as Kurt was telling her how romantic it was. She smiled and opened her locker to carefully place the rose inside with the card. She hoped that this was from Finn; she really hoped that this was him but she couldn't say that she had ever seen Finn act in any way that could be considered as romantic. She shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts as reality hit her. This was probably another joke; she had to keep her wits about her.

As Rachel was trying to convince herself not to get her hopes up, Finn stood a little way down the corridor. He took a calming breath. Ok, so the first flower had been delivered and she had looked happy before she had gone all neutral. He knew he couldn't give this away, he had to see this plan through, so when Rachel was giving him searching or hopeful looks all day, he just pretended like it was just an ordinary day, hoping she would forgive him.

The next day, Rachel got in a little earlier than usual because she had to finish some work in the library and just as she opened the door a woman opened the door and almost hit Rachel.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," The woman apologised, pushing an escaped strand of her untidy ponytail behind her ear. Rachel could hear the woman's accent right away. "I'm such an idiot, I didn't check it was clear ..." she trailed off. Rachel smiled at her.

"I'm fine; honestly, I think I was just surprised more than anything." Rachel assured her. The woman smiled again and said goodbye before happily walking away with a quick wave back at Rachel. Rachel shook her head, wondering what that woman was doing at school but she quickly shook this off and walked into the building. The corridor's were practically empty except for the odd student who had the same idea that she had so she could see the item hanging off her locker as she rounded the corner. She paused for a split second, mid step, but carried on to her locker, curiously. There was a second rose tied to her locker, this time it was a white rose. There was another card attached to it so she opened it and read '... I hope I'm worthy ..."

Now she was really curious. Who was sending these to her? Was it Finn? But Finn had shown no recognition over this whilst Kurt had happily speculated over who it could be during lunch yesterday. She put this rose in her locker again and knew that when school ended and she got home it would end up in the same vase as yesterday's yellow rose. She kept a close eye on Finn all day, hoping he would give something away so she could be sure it was him but he mainly seemed distracted all day like he was going over and over something in his mind. Unknown to Rachel this was exactly what Finn was doing. He was trying to perfect what he was going to actually say to Rachel, he still had no idea; he just knew that as of Friday morning he would have to tell her something.

The next day's rose was a pink one with a note that read '... please believe me ...'. Kurt was once again with Rachel when she found the third rose and he squealed in delight as he saw this and dragged the truth from her that this was the third rose and there had been a second the day before.

"So there's been 'Your friendship means the world to me ... I hope I'm worthy ... please believe me ...' whoever this is must really like you Rachel," he grinned. Rachel ducked her head and her vulnerability showed through slightly as she asked.

"Kurt ... do you ... I mean ... has ... is it possible ..." she stuttered, uncharacteristically. She stopped abruptly, clearly frustrated. Kurt took pity on her.

"I honestly don't know if it's Finn that's behind this Rachel, he hasn't told anyone what he's doing and when he asked my help I told him he'd have to come up with something on his own." Kurt told her kindly.

The next day Rachel approached her locker apprehensively and just as she was about to take the card from the yellow rose with red tips, Kurt arrived next to her. He looked at the rose and turned to her excitedly.

"So what did he want you to believe?" he asked quickly, referencing yesterday's card. She shrugged as she took the piece of card and opened it slowly. She read the card at least five times, not daring to believe the words that were printed there. Kurt grew impatient as she stared, "It's not bad is it?" he asked. Wordlessly, Rachel handed him the piece of card and he read it aloud as Mercedes and Tina had just arrived. "'... I've been falling in love with you ...' oh my God Rachel, this is so sweet!" he grinned and gave her the card back as he quickly started gossiping with Mercedes and Tina. Rachel was still staring at the card when Finn arrived with Mike.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" he grinned. He didn't know whether Rachel was happy with this last card but when she looked up at his voice and looked him right in the eye, he could finally see how she felt about him for the first time since well before Sectionals. He smiled back at her as she grinned at him and watched as she carefully placed the rose and note in her locker. He recovered himself quickly. "Can I walk you to Spanish?" he grinned gesturing a hand down the corridor towards their class.

"That'd be great," she grinned back and they both walked away leaving Kurt, Mercedes and Tina to gossip whilst Mike looked on, amused at the whole situation in general. Why he couldn't just tell her rather than this flower sending thing was beyond him.

Although Rachel was convinced that the rose/letter sender was Finn she didn't want to risk finding out it wasn't so she decided to wait and see so the next morning, she cursed her luck as she walked into school with just a few minutes to spare before the bell rang. Normally she didn't mind running errors for her Dad but he really picked the wrong day. She almost ran to her locker and sighed in relief when she saw that Kurt was stood next to it. He was practically jumping with excitement as she walked up to him and he moved aside to reveal a perfect red rose.

"I didn't read it, I swear," he promised, grinning. Rachel smiled back but as she started to reach for the card, another much larger hand reached past her and snatched the card away first. She spun around to face the smirking face of Karofsky.

"Well, well, well," he smirked, "What do we have here?" he asked, "It looks like our little drag queen has a secret admirer," he taunted and went to open the card to read it aloud but before he could, Finn was suddenly standing between him and Rachel. He snatched the card out of Karofsky's hand and quickly passed it back to Rachel before turning his full attention on the hockey player.

"Something else to say Karofsky?" he asked dangerously, "Or have you just never met a real woman before?" he continued, ignoring the sniggering of the crowd, "After all, if the only girls you ever date ARE drag queens then I can see how meeting a real woman like Rach might be confusing for someone like you." He raised an eyebrow as Karofsky turned red in anger. He was about to continue taunting him when he felt a soft hand on his arm.

"Finn it's really not worth it ..." Rachel told him. He glanced back at her and then back to Karofsky.

"It's your lucky day Karofsky, now get lost." He told him.

"We'll see about that Hudson," Karofsky growled, but he left with no further complaints as the first bell rang and everyone started to get to their classes. Rachel grabbed her bag and put the red rose in her locker and closed the door quickly, before shooting a bright smile towards Finn.

"Thank you Finn," she smiled.

"It was nothing," he smiled back and then she disappeared into her class, leaving Finn staring after her. Did she read the note?

Rachel sat down in her English class, smiling widely at how Finn had come to her rescue. She hadn't needed him to, of course, but it was really nice that she now knew he cared more about her than his popularity. She sat listening to her teacher, dutifully taking notes until she suddenly remembered that she hadn't read the note that came with the rose. She sent a quick glance at the teacher who was so into her reading that she wouldn't have known if the whole class disappeared out of the door. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the card. As she opened it the first thing she realised was that this time the card was written in someone's handwriting, a very familiar handwriting but any further thoughts of this was thrown right out of her mind at the words that were written in this writing.

'I love you, always Finn'

It was Finn. He had sent her all these flowers and these notes. He had taken the time to do this. The next few hours dragged as she couldn't wait for lunch so she could talk to him, find out if he truly meant what he was writing. She walked into the cafeteria at lunch and over to their table where Finn was sat laughing with the rest of Glee. He looked up as she arrived and his laugh abruptly stopped as he looked into her eyes. He knew she had read the note. As they stared at each other Kurt noticed Rachel had arrived and spun around in his seat to face her as she still stared at Finn over the table. He was smiling softly at her. Kurt cleared his throat.

"So?" he asked, looking from Rachel to Finn and back to Rachel again, "What did this one say?"

Rachel didn't answer but instead spoke to Finn, "Do you mean that?" she asked. At this point every conversation on the Glee table had stopped and they all stared at Finn and Rachel as Finn cleared his throat and stood up.

"That and more," he told her. There was another pause as Rachel was sorting her thoughts out and Finn was waiting for her to do that. Everyone else was trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

"But you ... you can't!" she exclaimed, almost stamping her foot. Finn just smiled and he started walking around the table.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because you don't know me well enough to say that ... we're too different." She said defiantly, watching him get closer with a wary look in her eyes.

"I want to know everything Rach, that's the point, everything I know so far I love and I want to know the rest," by now he was standing in front of her and he reached forward to cup her cheek with his hand, "And about the too different thing ... don't opposites attract?" he asked with a lopsided grin. Rachel giggled at this but kept smiling at him. "I love you Rach," he whispered, fully aware that everyone at the table were listening to every word, and despite his whisper he heard several gasps but ignored them, focusing on Rachel. "Can I kiss you know?" he asked leaning forward, leaving a small gap between their lips as Rachel lifted her hand to rest in on his that was covering her cheek.

"Yea ..." she started to say but didn't get to finish the word before Finn closed the distance and kissed her. At this there were so many other gasps around the cafeteria and they could literally feel the stares of the students but as Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and Finn wrapped his arms around her waist all this disappeared into the background. This was so much better than the other times they had kissed; there were no girlfriends or social expectations, no disappointment or regret. Finn pulled her closer, not wanting to let her go and in doing so he lifted her a few inches from the ground, her feet dangling as they kissed. To Finn and Rachel the kiss lasted hours but to everyone else in the canteen it had been a few seconds when they broke the kiss. Finn kept her in his arms and dropped his head into the crook of her neck. He could smell the shampoo she used and his lips brushed against the soft skin on her neck. Then he whispered, just so she could hear it.

"I love you." He was about to set her back down on her feet when her hold around his neck tightened.

She whispered into his ear, "I love you too," and then, both of them grinning like fools he put her down and took her hand. It was at this point they both became aware of the people watching them. Finn took her bag and led her back around the table and almost smiled as everyone followed these movements. He sat down and pulled Rachel next to him and then he finally looked at them all.

"What?" he asked innocently, causing Rachel to giggle next to him and his own grin to stretch across his face at this sound. He squeezed her hand softly under the table as everyone started asking them both questions at once. Their duet was going to be really good now.

Maybe he should take her to meet his Mom soon ...

The End.

A.N. So there ya have it ... all finished. I hope you guys enjoyed this and that the cheesiness didn't distract from the story too much lmao ... tomorrow I will be posting a one shot called From Afar that is basically these events from Finn's Mum's POV so you might wanna check that out too if ya enjoyed this :) Please review, thanks Nicki


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